iPhone 7 And Galaxy S6: Specs, Features, Release Date [REPORT]

Many consumers will be seeking out an iPhone 6 bargain in the forthcoming Black Friday sales. Even though this flagship smartphone has only been in the public domain for a couple of months, some Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fans are seemingly looking some distance into the future.

There is already a lots of speculation doing the rounds about the forthcoming iPhone 7. Of course, as Apple is still hoping to sell tens of millions of iPhone 6 units, the company itself won’t confirm these reports for quite some time. But already the analyst community is gathering information on this 2015 smartphone release, and likely customers of the iPhone 7 will undoubtedly lap it up.

Some sources have even suggested that Apple won’t name the device iPhone 7, and will instead look upon its next generation of smartphone releases as another S series. This would make the next iPhone more of an upgrade to the iPhone 6 than the revolution which the handset represented when it was released. But as ValueWalk has discussed previously, it seems more likely that the next iPhone will be marketed as an iPhone 7.

iPhone 7 details

Design

However, despite this branding, it seems pretty certain that Apple will to some degree stick with the design of the iPhone 6. We shouldn’t expect radical departures from the appearance of this handset given the fact that the iPhone 6 was a pretty big redesign of the previous iPhone iterations.

What is more likely is that Apple will attempt to boost the build quality of the iPhone 7, while keeping its basic physical appearance pretty similar to the iPhone 6. Apple has previously maintained the same design over two generations of the iPhone, so it is reasonable to expect that the iPhone 6 design will carry over to the iPhone 7 to a large degree.

What we might see is Apple utilizing superior materials in order to make the iPhone 7 more durable. Rumors existed for quite some time in the lead up to the iPhone 6 regarding Sapphire Glass, and as it is known that Apple has purchased a large quantity of this material, we could see it form a major part of the iPhone 7.

Further speculation surrounds liquidmetal, but this seems far less likely to form part of the iPhone 7 build, even if some analysts have floated the idea lately.

Display

One tantalizing rumor regarding the iPhone 7 is that it could feature a 3-D display. This has been reported by Economic Daily News, with the publication citing the fact that Apple supply chain partner TPK is working on a project that relates to “naked eye 3D screen”; a display that produces three-dimensional content that can be viewed without glasses.

It would be pretty surprising if Apple can include this in the next generation iPhone and keep production costs affordable, but this could certainly be something to keep an eye on for future Apple devices.

Aside from this, Apple is likely to up the resolution of the iPhone 7 display, and they may ensure that the phablet-sized version of the screen in particular is slightly larger than the iPhone 6 Plus.

Camera

Cameras in the iPhone have always punched above their weight. Being relatively low in megapixel rating, the iPhone cameras suggest that they will be inadequate compared to other brands, but in testing conditions this has been far from the case. However, Apple might want to beef up its snapper in the forthcoming iPhone 7, and in accordance with this some analysts are already making bold predictions regarding what Apple could offer consumers.

John Gruber has suggested a 21-megapixel camera is possible in the iPhone 7, and that it will feature a two-lens system which will enable iPhone consumers to capture “DSLR-quality imagery.” This is not a baseless proposition as the HTC One M8 already utilizes such a system.

New charger

One area where Apple has perhaps fallen behind its major rivals is in the battery life of the iPhone series. It should perhaps not come as a massive surprise then that one of the rumors about the next generation of Apple smartphones is that it will feature a new charger system.

To what extent this will deliver superior battery life is debatable, but one of the interesting elements of it is that the USB part of the charger could be reversible. A video displaying such a charging device has already emerged, and this shows the USB being plugged into the adapter both possible ways.

New features

Apple is also certain to include some new functionality in the iPhone 7, and viewing Apple’s recent portfolio of patents can give us some clue as to what this feature set and might entail.

One such possibility is that facial recognition could be utilized in order to unlock the device, while the entire display of the iPhone 7 could also become a TouchID fingerprint sensor. This would negate the need for a Home Button and ensure that Apple could include a larger display in both the smartphone and phablet-sized versions of the iPhone 7 without making the actual handsets larger.

Galaxy S6 details

However, before the iPhone 7 hits the stores, the Galaxy S6 is likely to be unveiled during the Mobile world Congress in Barcelona. There has been less frenzied speculation about this device, perhaps because Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:0059935) has lost something of its lustre in recent months.

Nonetheless, there are still plenty of rumors knocking around regarding this significant smartphone release, and it is possible to already compile a list of specifications for the Galaxy S6 based on leaks and analyst speculation.

The Galaxy S6 will feature a 2,560 x 1,440 quad HD display, with a 20-megapixel OIS-enabled and 4K video recording rear-facing camera. Its front camera will also be capable of 5-megapixels. The Galaxy S6 will ship with a 64-bit processor, which will be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 for the US market, while micro-SD will take the storage capacity of the largest model up to 256GB. Despite the fact that there are still several months until this release comes to fruition, the Galaxy S6 is also expected to run off the current version of Android 5.0 Lollipop.

The development of the Galaxy S6 is well underway, with the internal Samsung Project Zero having been leaked to the media already. The list of rumors and leaks for both smartphones will make the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S6 hotly anticipated devices by market analysts and consumers alike.